


Till Death Do Us Part

by bikoshark



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Slow Burn, tender love and care
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bikoshark/pseuds/bikoshark
Summary: You were close friends with Levi, Isabel, and Farlan. After the deaths of your two closest friends, you and Levi vow to never leave each others side. As time goes on, you develop feelings for the man that's caused you so much rage for so long. And feeling as though the death of your friends was your fault, will you be able to ever let yourself love?
Relationships: Levi & Erwin Smith & Reader, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Reader, Levi/Reader, Moblit Berner & Hange Zoë, Moblit Berner/Hange Zoë
Comments: 25
Kudos: 85





	1. Intransigent

**Author's Note:**

> Please! If you enjoy this and want to see more, leave Kudos! I'm not sure if I'll be continuing this, but the idea has been in my head for so long that if enough people would like seeing more, I'd love to write more.

Levi hadn’t always been very nice to you, in fact, his first conversation with you was a shouting contest about something as stupid as cleaning.

“You need to use multiple paper towels or else you’re just dragging dirt and grime around!” and “Using too many paper towels is wasteful!” back and forth until he commented on your relationship with your parents and you stormed off. Farlan came to you later and stated that Levi wanted to apologize, and your response was something along the lines of “If he’s not going to apologize to my face it’s not an apology.”

Despite all of the arguing between you and Levi, your trio was a pretty good one. When Isabel joined the party you couldn’t be happier to have a little sister so cute and so much like you. You do remember the day Levi began to be kinder to you, although you sincerely wish that it had gone differently.

That day was the day Levi, Isabel, Farlan, and you were to go with the Scout Regiment to the outer walls. Levi split up from you three with the intent to kill the commander. Although you and Isabel were mainly goofing around with the horses you could definitely hear Farlan scream to move out of the way. After a bit of confusion, you jumped out of the way right on time and landed on the ground as your horse neighed and ran away. You looked to where you and Isabel previously were and saw a titan with red eyes look at you.

From its mouth you saw Isabel hanging out, her eyes wide in fear. 

“Help m-” A loud crunch stopped her sentence, and you watched as her head fell to the ground. The fear stopped and the anger took over you. Grabbing your 3D Maneuver Gear, you hooked onto the titan and went to slash at it anywhere that you could, but it was uninterested in you. It put out its hand and smacked you away from it. The force of its hand hitting into you and your back into the ground was enough to knock you out after you hacked out blood. You heard Farlan shout, and the wires of his gear go off, but your eyes closed before seeing the outcome.

More yelling woke you up, but not from Farlan this time. A recognizable voice- not one filled with fear, but instead anger and sadness. You opened your eyes, a blur of motion going left and right, back and forth and up and down as that same titan huffed and snarled in pain. Its head flew off and what was left of its body went limp.

Your vision fades in and out as you listen as Levi’s frantic voice and the commander’s calm voice rang in your ears. After hearing a bit of silence you raised your arm to gain anyone’s attention. You manage to croak out a feeble “Levi,” which sent him running to you. 

He picked up your head in his hands and began saying things to you frantically, but your comprehension was at an all-time low. “I’m..sorry..” You managed out again, the death of your close friends finally hitting you. “I couldn’t...I…” You began to choke back words, a weak sob coming out as tears ran down your face.

Levi’s face was far from dry, a mix of blood, sweat, and now tears mixed as he looked down at you. You mumbled out a slew of words that didn’t particularly matter, apologies, ramblings, and general dissatisfaction with yourself. He brought your head up to his chest with one hand and gripped his arm around your waist into a very tight hug. You were ready for him to tear you a new one, asking why you were too weak to save your 2 closest friends, but what you got instead was a sad sob into your head;

“Please don’t ever leave me.”


	2. Ameliorative

After your vision blurred and you went in and out of consciousness, you woke up in a bed unfamiliar to you. You had a slight headache and a weird taste in your mouth; the taste of iron lingered on your tongue and you yearned for water. You tried sitting up to look around, but the slightest movement of your back made you yelp in pain.

“Y/n?” 

A deep, timid voice comes from near you. You look to see Levi sitting in a chair besides you, looking like he had just woken up as well. He wasn’t in uniform, just a gray long sleeve shirt and burgundy pants, so you assumed he had been there for a while. You tried to sit up to get a better look at him, only to feel another strain of pain as your attempt failed.

“Y/n, don’t,” He said as he stood up and put his hand over your collar to push you back down. “Your back muscles are still fucked. You need to rest for another week or two.” Your head buzzed as you looked around, and you tried to crunch up again to no avail. Levi sighed, “If you want to sit up, use your arms, not your core.” 

You followed his instructions and sat up with a grimace. Although the process was still painful, it wasn’t as bad as before and you were able to sit up with your back against the bedframe. There was silence between you two as you stared at the covers on top of you and Levi sat back down. 

“I’m really thirsty.” You muttered in an attempt to break the silence. Levi grabbed the cup of water on the counter next to you and handed it over to you. You looked at his pale hands, slightly trembling but not enough to be a problem. You grabbed the cup slowly and brought it to your lips. Drinking the water helped, but your stomach felt empty.

“How long have I been out?” You asked, watching as Levi leaned forward on his chair with elbows on his thighs and hands together in front of him.

“A little under 3 days. You woke up a few times for a few seconds every now and then, so we knew you weren’t in a coma, but this is the first time you’ve…moved.” You looked down at the glass in your hands. “I was about ready to start force-feeding you. Good thing you woke up.” His tone remained as stern as it always was, but you knew he was trying to lighten the mood.

You knew better than to mention their names. If they were still alive, they would be in this room with him. You saw them die, but your mind wasn’t exactly grasping the idea that they were gone and spent their last moments in horror and pain. “What happens now?” You asked and looked directly at Levi. His hair, for the first time you’d ever seen, was unkempt. Part of it was pushed back and the other part stayed over his face. His face seemed sunken in, and the bags under his eyes were more prominent than they usually were. He hasn’t been taking care of himself.

“We’re joining the Scout Regiment. No funny business this time.” You stammered in surprise, ready to fight with him on the option. “We’d either join or they’d arrest us. They know what we were trying to do. If not arrest us, they’d kill us.”

“But then we could-”

“We can’t go back to the underground. Everyone and their mothers know us and who we are, now. They wouldn’t let us back down anyways.” You looked at Levi, eyes wide in shock. “I’ve already made the decision for us.”

“You made a decision for me.” You said, frustrated.

“I’m not going to let us split up. If you stay here, you can get the medical attention you need and food every day. This isn’t just about me making a decision for you, it’s about the best possible option.”

Your chest heaved. “This isn’t the best possible option. There’s no way it is! I didn’t fucking agree to this, Ackerman. I can walk, I think, we can get out of here. We can go together; we can’t just leave our home! We can’t play soldier for the rest of our fucking lives-”

“Y/n.” You looked at Levi, he looked so…tired. His eyes were half lidded, and his face was somber yet sharp. “We don’t have a home anymore.” 

Silence fell over the both of you, and you clenched your fists knowing that he was right. “We’ll start over. We do it better than anyone else.” He said, looking at you with sadness. Both of you had to start your lives over after you had family issues. Although he started over with someone else, a “Kenny” or something or another, you started over with him. You took a shaky breath and looked up at the ceiling.

You don’t have a choice; this really is the best option. Your stomach growled. “I brought you food,” Levi said, gesturing towards the counter where he had grabbed you a glass of water. You looked at the food, mystery soup, a piece of bread, a potato.

“Have you been eating?” You asked, taking in his appearance again. He looked at you in silence, so you knew the answer. “We can split everything here in half. It’s probably not a good idea for me to eat all the carbs at once after not eating for 3 days.” You grabbed the bread and started to break it in half over your blanket, until Levi snatched it away from you.

“You’re going to get crumbs everywhere.” He said, standing up over the tray and tearing the bread in half there, handing one half to you and taking a bite out of his half.

The two of you talked some more over the course of an hour and a half, not once saying their names or bringing up that day at all. Plans for the future were discussed, secrets about the Scout Regiment and what they were trying to accomplish. You had both finished your bread and potato halves and were putting off the mystery soup out of fear. When reaching the topic of Commander Erwin Smith, the door opened. “Speak of the devil.” Levi muttered, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“Ah, sorry, did I interrupt something?” Erwin said, smiling at the both of you. “I was originally looking for Levi, but I see you’re awake, y/n. Good afternoon.” He slightly bowed at you, putting his hand over his heart. 

Damn it, you really wanted to hate this guy, but he seemed like a proper gentleman. You decided not answering was the best move.

“I guess this is a good time to tell you about the Scout Regiment.” Erwin said. “Do either of you mind if I pull up a chair?” Levi looked at him in silence, and stood up from his seat. 

“You can take my seat, just make it quick.” Levi groaned, as he paced around slowly. Erwin smiled and gave a quick thanks before sitting down in his seat looking at you.

“I’m sure Levi told you that the two of you were recruited to the Scout Regiment.” The two of you. Not the four of you. “Don’t worry, I know about the plan to grant you citizenship. I don’t hold any grudges as long as you don’t try to kill me again.” You gave a week smile, not that it was funny, but it was upsetting. Smiling would be better than crying. “The Scout Regiment is a part of the three military functions. We’re dedicated to find out and solve the mystery of the titans.” At the word ‘titan’, you felt your heart pick up speed. You thought about the red eyes, her head falling out. The screams. “It’s not just about fighting titans; we have a goal. Every now and then, we’ll go on expeditions to find out more about them. Unfortunately, as you are aware, we suffer great casualties. But we need those casualties to find out more.”

“Yeah? What have you found out?” You asked, your tongue spitting venom at Erwin without you wanting to. The soft smile on his face remained. 

“I won’t let them die in vain.” He said, and your jaw unclenched. Despite his answer being one to avoid the question, a sense of ease fell over you.

You two talked for a bit more, Erwin explained that you’d start training when you were healed up, but for the time being you should rest. After the talk, Erwin asked if he could talk to Levi in private about his position in the Survey Corps. Levi looked at you, looking for an answer. You gestured for him to go on, and so they did.

The next two weeks were spent sleeping, eating, and partaking in physical therapy. Levi made it a goal to visit you every day to make sure you had eaten and taken care of yourself. After his raise in position, however, he was unable to make it on some days no matter how hard he tried. Sometimes he’d come back so late that he’d fall asleep in that chair, and by the time you’d woken up he would be out again training or making plans. He would vent to you about how stupid everyone was, how he and Squad Leader Hange could never see eye to eye, and so on. You were happy to hear him talk.

In the morning you two would stretch together, and after you had the strength to stand and walk without any pain, he showed you around the quarters. After 2 weeks of healing, you were able to officially join the Survey Corps. Erwin stood at the front of the commons with Levi and Hange on one side, and you on the other.

“Attention! I’d like to introduce our newest member.” He put his hands on your shoulder and slightly urged you forward, making Levi side-eye him. “L/n, F/n!”


	3. Bone of Contention

A few weeks had passed since you were recruited into the Scout Regiment. Your back no longer bothered you in your sleep, and you were beginning to regain strength in it. If only you were some type of person that could heal their wounds within minutes, then this wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, that wasn’t you; you were just a 27-year-old with new-found back problems.

Although you had grown up and been trained by the one and only Levi Ackerman, your skills were no where near as perfect as his, although pretty damn good. For that reason, you weren’t offered a position as Squad Commander as Levi had. Luckily for you, you didn’t care all that much. 

It took you quite a bit of time to open up to everyone, but you made good friends with the people in the Scout Regiment. Nanaba was like an older sister to you, and Mike was…weird…but gave off a very fatherly aura. When you were introduced, he was one of the first people you met. Being sniffed by someone you’ve never even seen before was definitely not the best thing to come out of this, but after befriending him you decided the whole situation was alright.

There was only one person you decided you didn’t like all that much. Although she had never done anything wrong to you personally, Petra got on your nerves quite a lot. Was it the fact that she was overly positive in every situation possible? If that were the case then you’d hate Erwin. Her cute demeanor? No, not possible; because you loved Nifa, and she was cute as hell. 

The way she looks at Levi? How she stands too close to him? How she takes every opportunity to touch him, physically?

Hm. 

Best not to dwell on it- it doesn’t really matter what exactly the problem was, you just didn’t like her all that much. Of course, you would never go out of your way to bother her or anything, it was just that when you heard the squeak in her voice you grimaced slightly.

It’d come time to join a squad, and you were ready to pick Levi’s. However, Erwin had a different plan.

“Y/n, I’ve decided to place you into Hange’s squad.” His voice said from behind his large desk. How did you feel about Hange, exactly? You weren’t really sure, it depended on the day. There were times where you couldn’t help but take part in on her ecstasy and jump around at the smallest scientific finding. There were other days where you want to kick her jaw shut so she’d shut up for maybe two seconds. You liked the way she lead her crew, which was always close-nit. People in her squad have said they saw Hange and Moblit as their mother and father.

“Hange’s? Why not-“

The door slams open “You’re putting her in Hange’s Squad?!” Levi yells in anger, both you and Erwin stare at him in silence. You noticed that the wall the door was slammed into was now chipped. 

“Good afternoon, Levi.” Erwin said with a smile on his face. He brought his hand up under his chin and placed his elbows on the desk. “I have no idea where you heard such a thing, considering I’ve only told Hange and Y/n.”

“Hange’s mouth is as big as the fucking sun.” You wondered if Levi noticed that you’re in the room. You’re looking at him, but he’s looking at Erwin with furrowed brow and down-turned mouth. He turned his head slightly and then took notice of your presence. His face softened and his shoulders relaxed. He nodded his head at you as a greeting. Typical. You nodded your head back.

“Come in, Levi, let’s talk about this together. Please close the door behind you.” Erwin said, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk besides you. Levi reached for the door and closed it. You assumed he also saw the chip in the wall, because he muttered “shit” to himself as he closed the door. He sat down next to you. “My decision is final. Y/n is joining Hange’s squad.”

“This doesn’t seem like ‘talking about it together’.” You said, eyes squinting at Erwin.

“Sorry, I just thought I’d let you know with both of you sat down so you know I’m serious. You’ll be in Hange’s squad.” You opened your mouth to protest, but Levi beat you to the punch.

“That’s bullshit. You have no real reason to place her there except for out of spite.” Levi said, leaning forward in his seat.

Erwin chuckled. “Levi, I’m putting my life at risk right now by having you two in this room together.” He said, putting his hand out and gesturing at the room. “The last time you two were in a squad together,” You thought about that day. What you saw. Their screams. The blood. Big, red eyes. You clutched the armchair. “You tried to assassinate me. I trust both of you, but not enough to risk that happening again.”

You needed to slow your breathing down, so you spoke. “Honestly, I understand that concern.” You quickly stated, releasing your grip on the chair. Your hands were still shaking. “I’m fine with being on Hange’s squad.”

“Seriously?” Levi asked, baffled by your response. “You’re joking, right?” _What happened to never leaving me?_ You could almost hear, but you waved that fake sentence out of your head.

“Well, then it won’t feel like you’re babysitting me. Plus-” No Petra. “I can take care of myself.” Levi looked at you in silence, you couldn’t read his face or tell what he was thinking. Without speaking, he stood up from his chair and walked towards the door. You watched as he walked away.

“I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding.” Erwin said, looking to the back of Levi’s head and then to you. “Sorry for the trouble. For now, you’ll stay where you’ve been sleeping. You’re dismissed.” You stood and saluted to him hurriedly and headed towards Levi. You called after him, and although you were sure he could hear you he kept walking. You picked up the pace to get to him and put a hand on his shoulder to turn him around.

“What the fuck was that?” You both said at the same time. You found it funny, so you chuckled, but his face remained cold and stern.

“I’m fucking serious.” He stated, which made you regain your composure quickly. “Why do you feel the need to separate us. We’re a team, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are!” You said. “I just…” How do you say ‘I don’t want to be responsible for your death or vice versa’ in Ackerman? “I just…really don’t like Petra.” You quickly said, and Levi looked at you in shock.

“…What?”

 _She follows you like a puppy, are you really that dense?_ “And Oluo creeps me out.” You added, crossing your arms.

“Wait, what?”

“There’s absolutely no one I dislike in Hange’s squad. Being there would be better for me, and I might even actually be able to work with a group of strangers there. I wouldn’t be able to do that if I were in your squad.”

There was a pause as Levi tried to think. Perhaps talking about Petra wasn’t the best distraction but you managed to twist the truth well enough. You can see him furrow his eyebrows in confusion. He took a deep breath and spoke. “I can’t protect you if you’re in Hange’s squad, y/n.”

You gawked at him. “Seriously? _‘Humanity’s Greatest Soldier’_ shouldn’t be protecting one person. See? You just prove that I’d distract you. Like I said, I can take care of myself.” You didn’t understand why, now, you were suddenly actively against joining Levi’s Squad. Perhaps it was an act of defiance, or a realization of independence.

“Take care of yourself?” Levi got close to you. The anger in his eyes rendered you speechless. “If I hadn’t come back to you on that day, you would be dead.” You took such a deep inhale with your mouth agape that you made a very quiet but verbal gasp.

It was almost like an unwritten rule that you two didn’t speak about that day. Sure, he didn’t say their names, but he brought up the day. Every conversation you two had since then danced around the idea. You thought about his words. He was looking down on you for being weak. “Oh my God.” You breathed, unable to put out any thoughts. “You think it was my fault.” 

Levi leaned back, eyes widened. “No, that’s not what I meant. I was just trying to prove to you that-”

“No, Levi, you’re right!” You yelled. “It was. I’m glad we were both thinking it!” Your back began to ache. Your whole body was aching. You needed to leave. You heard a door open and Erwin walk out.

“Is everything alright here?” He asked, with genuine worry. A perfect time to escape.

Before Levi could even breathe, you spoke. “Yes, sir. Everything is fine. I think we were getting to the end of the conversation, anyways. I’ll be with Hange if you need me.” You walked past Levi and managed to catch a glimpse of his face. Shock, anger, sadness? You couldn’t tell, and you didn’t want to look at him again.


	4. 35th Expedition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I've been updating daily for a bit but I'm pooped out now. Expect next chapter by, if not before, next week! Thank you for all the lovely comments, every time I read one I get the energy to write again, and has been the reason I've been updating so often recently. This one's a long one so buckle in.

Heading over to Hange’s, you noticed that Nanaba was also with her. Immediately, she could tell something was off about you. She convinced you to talk about how you were feeling, so you talked to her in private about what was going on, while also being vague about the situation. “Levi and I are having an argument about me joining Hange’s squad” kind of thing. Nanaba listened and gave you a shoulder to complain on. Her advice was that you two needed some time apart. You realized that the past month and a half or so of being here, you’d been with Levi and almost no one else. Having Farlan and Isabel at least acted as a buffer between your two very opposing energies, but without them it was wearing you down. “I think joining Hange’s squad was the right choice. I’m sure they’d love to have you around, but this seems like what needs to happen right now.” She said, smiling at you. “And if that changes in the future, then I’m positive they’ll welcome you with open arms.” You appreciated your talk with her more than anything, but when the sun began setting you excused yourself and went to your bedroom. You felt better about the incident, but not ready to go face to face with Levi yet. 

Within the next week, Commander Erwin had told you all about plans for another expedition. The idea of the expedition riled you with anxiety, but you weren’t willing to let that show. “This is so exciting! More titans!” Hange said, pumping her fists in the air with excitement. The 35th Expedition over the walls. You rolled your eyes at Hange, but with a faint smile. This was one of the days where you could put up with her energy. 

“Hopefully, this time we’ll actually find something that furthers our research.” You said, scratching at the table in front of you and resting your head on one hand.

“Oh, come on!” Hange pouted. “Even if we don’t find something, being outside the walls should be prize enough!”

“Outside the walls isn’t much different from insides the walls. It just has less people. And more titans.” You shrugged.

“And it’s hot as shit.” Nifa added, and you cheekily grinned at each other. 

“Stop complaining, you’re making me sad.” Hange said, keeping her pout as you and Nifa laughed. You looked around the table at the other members of Hange’s squad. Keiji seemed to be listening to the conversation, but hadn’t been joining in. You decided that was good, since most of the time Keiji was just angry and told everyone to stop goofing around. Moblit was at Hange’s side as per usual, typically smiling as he looked over at her with bright eyes. Lauda and Rashad were having their own conversation, and you barely ever talked to them about much of anything. Although, each of the members of Hange’s squad made the effort to try to get to know you once it was out that you were joining the fourth squad. You liked Nifa the most, obviously, and you two became pretty good friends for the most part. Lauda kept to herself, but she always seemed interested in you, and the few conversations you’ve had have neither been bad nor good.

You continued thinking about the expedition as Nifa, Moblit, and Hange continued their banter. Your stomach rolled as you thought about the idea of seeing another titan. How many people would you have to see die? How many will you save, or more likely, fail to save? Will it be Nifa’s head that goes rolling next? Nanaba’s? Levi’s? Will you have to hear Hange’s screams of pain? Keiji’s? You didn’t notice, but you felt the prickling feeling of tears to your eyes as you thought about all of your comrades dying agonizing deaths.

You were suddenly taken out of your thoughts by a hand to your shoulder. You jumped, startled, and looked up to the standing person who dared to touch you unprovoked.

“Are you alright?” Levi asked, looking down at you. You were silent for only a second as your train of thought stopped derailing.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” You responded. He took his hand off your shoulder and looked at you for a second before continuing to walk with Erwin and Petra, who had stopped to wait for him. You looked back at the table before hearing Hange.

“Sheesh, still broken up?” She asked. Your head snapped back up as you looked at her.

“We’re not-!” You began, and Hange laughed.

“I know, I know, I was teasing. It’s just weird to see two people who spent nearly every second of every day together suddenly stop interacting.” She said, shrugging.

“It was weird for us, too.” You muttered, and looked around. Your comrades all had their eyes on you. You quickly had to change the topic. “Uh-uhm, so Hange, what about you and Moblit?” Hange and Moblit both widened their eyes. Nifa stifled a laugh, and Keiji rubbed his temples in annoyance. Moblit’s face went a dark shade of red and Hange laughed. “We’re not-”

“I was teasing.”

Two weeks passed, and you continued keeping Levi at arm’s length. He made attempts to speak to you, or start up conversation, but you’d never let him get far. The day of the expedition had come, and your jitters were more prominent than they ever were. You didn’t eat that morning to stop yourself from vomiting. You held the reign of your horse tightly, your fingers going cold. Nifa put her arm out to you. “Ready?” She asked, obviously taking note at your nervousness but not wanting to pry.

“Born ready.” You responded, the two of you exchanging smiles. You looked forward, catching Levi looking at you. His eyes were filled with worry. You smiled and nodded at him. His jaw unclenched and his eyebrows unfurrowed. He nodded and looked back in front of him, and your tight hold on the reigns broke. You put out your hand and pat the horse’s head, making it paw at the ground.

“Advance!” You heard Commander Erwin shout, and suddenly the feeling of dread threw itself at you once again, this was all too real. You watched as Levi’s squad went to the left of yours. You decided to focus on the wind, the grass, the smell of the air outside the walls. Nifa was right, it was warmer outside the walls, but that might be because of the direct rays of sunlight.

A red smoke signal came from the right. 

“Titans!” You heard someone yell.

“Already?!” You heard someone else yell.

“Squad Number Four, merge with Special Operations Squad!” Hange shouted.

You tried to stop your brain from falling apart. Now is not the time to panic. Focus on your breathing. Follow orders. All six of your horses moved to merge with Levi’s squad. You were on the outer right side of the merged squad, so you looked around. There were no titans coming your way.

“How many were there?” Petra asked, hurriedly.

“I couldn’t tell!” You yelled over the sound of horse neighs and clomping hooves. You passed by a house and instantly were met with a large face. You gasped and your eyes widened as a hand two times your size came at you, and gripped you.

“Y/n!” You heard Levi panickily yell. You looked at the titan.

They weren’t nearly as scary as the one from that day. Maybe they get scarier as they try to eat people? You weren’t willing to wait and find out. You gripped your swords and spun, cutting off each of the titans fingers. You hooked onto it’s shoulder, flinging yourself around it as a hand with no fingers tried to grab at you to no avail. You hooked on its neck. With a fiery yell, you angled your swords to your side and whizzed past its nape, slicing out a chunk of the meat on it.

Almost instantly the titan fell over and steam poured out of it. You had a titan kill! Not only that, but a solo one! You beamed and grinned. You didn’t get a chance to celebrate though, because you realized you were out in the open with no horse. Quickly, you put your fingers to your mouth and whistled for your horse. Luckily, the merged squad hadn’t gotten so far away, and the horse was back at your side in a matter of seconds, with Nifa following behind it. Once it reached you, you hopped on, and you and Nifa turned back to the squad. 

“Nifa, can you put off a green smoke signal? There were no titans here.” You said, and she grinned.

“You weren’t kidding when you said born ready.” She said, reaching into her pouch and putting off a green signal. Fake it ‘till you make it, but, whatever.

You both regrouped with the merged squad, which had now gone back to two separate squads while out of danger.

“Oi, y/n!” You heard, and you looked to see Levi shouting to you. “Don’t pull shit like that again! Learn to duck!” You furrowed your eyebrows. Now that you’ve proven that you _can_ take care of yourself he’s complaining.

“I don’t believe you’re my commander, Ackerman!” You shouted back, and fully unmerged with Hange’s squad. 

“What’d you say, brat?!” You heard his yell fade away in the distance as your squad rode further away.

The rest of the ride was simple and had no casualties from where you stood. Hange’s Squad, the Special Operations Squad, Squad Mike, and the rest of the Survey Corps including the commander, were all planning on rendezvousing at a base that had already been set up. Hange squad and Levi’s squad were the first to make it there at sundown. 

“This sucks. I really wanted to see some more titans.” Hange groaned.

“I think I’ve seen enough, honestly.” You sighed as you sat down on the grass of the enclosed area. 

“Don’t sit down yet! We need people to stay on watch.” Hange said, you groaned, as it was obvious that Hange had already decided that you’ll be watching.

“Okay, can I get Nifa, then?” 

Hange chortled. “Actually,” she pushed up her glasses, and the glare of the sun covered her eyes. “I’ve got other plans for you.” She finished. You cocked your head to the side, confused and fearful. “You and Levi will be keeping watch of the North-side entrances to the base until Erwin gets back. Until then I’ll be looking after both squads. Nifa and Petra will be overlooking the West-side, Nanaba and Thomas will be looking over the East, and Oluo and Gelgar will be overlooking the South-side.”

“This is a joke, right?” 

“Nope, sorry princess. Go get your horse and stand out post. White smoke signal when you see any other Scout Regiment members coming in. Red for titans, black for abnormals, green straight up for if you killed said titans.” You stared at her. She knew exactly what she was doing. “Go on! No time to just stand around.”

You sighed and grabbed all the stuff you needed and rode on the back of your brown horse over to the location Hange had given to you. There, Levi was already waiting for you. As you got closer, he spoke. “We’re going to move further out to cover as much space as possible.” He told you, and you nodded and followed. 

A few moments had passed and neither of you spoke. Until he broke the silence.

“You could’ve died back there.” He said.

“But I didn’t.” You said, still riding the high of getting a solo-kill on a titan.

“If it happens again, what if you don’t get lucky?” He asked.

“Then, that sucks.” You said, trying to end the conversation before it could go any further. Levi ‘tsk’-ed and continued further, stopping after the base was still in view but still fairly far away.

You got off from your horse and sat on the grass. 

“What are you doing?” Levi asked.

“My ass hurts, the ground is softer than the horse.” You responded. After a moment of silence, Levi hopped down from his horse and sat next to you. He looked at you, then out towards the landscape.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He stated.

“That conversation happened two weeks ago, let it go.” You said.

“It doesn’t matter how long ago it was. I just need you to know that it wasn’t your fault.” He said, looking at you. “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”

“But you could’ve.” You said. Although you were talking about the day, a broken rule, neither of you had mentioned their names or even the fact that they were dead. You looked at him, his lips were tight.

“No I couldn’t have.” He answered. “I don’t have future vision, none of us do. But,”

“Levi.” You said, your voice pained. You could feel the burning at the back of your throat. You wouldn’t let yourself cry. If you cry then it all becomes real. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

He looked at you, softly. He nodded and cleared his throat. His eyes scanned the horizon. The two of you sat in a comfortable silence for a minute, which you had done many times before. Words didn’t need to be said for the two of you to understand that the other needed space. You missed it. You heard thumping sounds in the distance, and both you and Levi’s head snapped towards the noise.

“Titans.” You said.

“Shit.” He muttered.

You listened closely at the thumping sounds. Either there were two titans, or this titan was walking on all fours. And if it was walking on all fours, then…

A head peered out from behind the trees and you were halted in any movements. Your breath hitched in your throat. 

Red eyes. Short brown hair. Disgusting smile. It wasn’t the same titan as that day, but they definitely looked related.

There was a ringing sound in your ears and you couldn’t think. Your eyes were glued to its eyes. Levi’s eyes widened, and he paused for a moment. But only for a moment. He turned to you, quickly. “Get on your horse!” Levi yelled at you, but your arms shook and your it felt like there wasn’t any blood in your legs. The ringing continued in your ears. “Y/N!” Levi screamed louder as he grabbed your arm. The abnormal started scampering towards you, and you suddenly regained movement.

“I’m fine, go!” You yelled, and Levi ran towards his horse. You ran towards yours, and the abnormal leaped towards you. Thinking quickly, you hooked onto a nearby tree and pulled yourself away from the abnormal’s trajectory, having it instead crush your horse. You rolled on the ground, unhooking from the tree. You heard your horse’s painful neigh and looked away. Not only was your way out gone, but so were your flare gun and its’ canisters. You couldn’t alert the base, so if the abnormal managed to get through the north entrance, the people inside would be fucked.

You had no choice but to kill it. You stood up and your legs shook violently below you. You grabbed your sword, now needing a new blade. You’ve done it before. You killed one of these fuckers before, why were its red eyes having this effect on you? Your hands shook as you watched the abnormal try to find you.

A black flare shot up. You looked, and saw Levi shoot it and ride towards you. “Y/n! Run!” He shouted, and you got your bearings again. The base had been alerted, so they should know, now. It was safe to run. You threw your broken blades out and equipped new ones, then shot a hook out at a nearby tree.

The hook, however, didn’t grapple to the tree. It hit against it and fell to the ground. You looked at it in disbelief, and shot again, this time no hook at all coming out. You looked at your 3DMG in despair. “Why now? Why now? Why break now?” You urged, as you clicked the trigger as many times as you could to no avail. You looked up, the abnormal stood up and looked at you, and took a step forward towards you.

“Over here, ugly piece of shit!” Levi yelled to gain its attention, but such isn’t possible with an abnormal. You tried to use your head as you started running away. You tried to think but your brain refused to make any coherent thoughts. The titan was coming at you faster now, and you knew you would die. Did you want to die running away like a coward? The answer was no. You grabbed the sheath of your blade with your bare hands, slicing at your fingers.

“Eat shit!” You yelled, as you hurled the blade at it’s face. The blade struck into its right eye, making it stagger in it’s stampede towards you, before regaining its balance and continuing in it’s direction towards you. You grabbed another blade, but dropped it after it cut too deep into your hand. You looked up and looked at its red eyes. Your legs shook, but you stayed stood up. It was time.

But before you knew it, you heard an all to familiar yell whiz by, and the sounds of 3DMG going off. You tried to look at Levi, but he was going so fast that you couldn’t see him. You blinked, and the titan fell in front of you as steam arose from its nape. Levi stood on its’ back as it fell, and then ran towards you.

“Are you okay?” He asked, out of breath and holding onto your shoulders. You nodded and looked down at your hands. One with 6 or so small cuts along your fingers, the other with a deep gash that oozed blood. Levi looked at your hands. “Jesus Christ.” He said, grabbing your hands. “We need to head back and get you medical attention. You can ride on my horse-”

“I haven’t changed.” You said, looking down at your hands. “I couldn’t fight, I haven’t changed.” You didn’t cry, but you felt a sense of hollowness inside yourself as you watched blood poor out of your hands. The steam coming from the titan wasn’t helping the situation. Levi brought you close to him, bending down slightly to look at you at eye level with his hands tightly gripping your shoulders.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He said, sternly. “Even if it was, you’ve changed. You got a titan kill earlier. You utilized the weapons on you even if you couldn’t use them properly. Y/n, please. Listen to me.” His hands moved from your shoulders to hold your face, keeping his eye contact with you. “You’re stronger than you think.” Your eyes felt the stinging sensation of tears, so you squinted your eyes to prevent any from following out and glued your lips shut. “Can you tell me that you understand?” You shyly nodded at him.

The conversation you two were having distracted you from the sound of horse hooves clambering onto the ground, so you separated as you watched Hange and Moblit arrive on horses.

“Oh thank God- We saw the black flair but no green flair so we came to check up on you.” Hange’s horse slowed as it reached you two. “Aww, you killed it already! I really wanted a new friend.” She said once seeing the steaming mass behind you. “And I see…that my plan worked.” She mischievously smiled at you, and Levi rolled his eyes.

“Shut up four-eyes.” He muttered, walking towards his horse.

Shit, your horse. You dared not look at it’s corpse.

“Y/n.” Levi called, and you looked at him. “Are you getting on, or do you need help up?” He said, you noticed he was sitting further up on the sadly than usual, making space for you. You looked down at your hands, now that you were back in your body the sting was setting in. Hange and Moblit were turning around on their horses slowly starting to walk back to the base.

But you didn’t want to ask for help. “I’ve got it, thanks.” You said, walking towards the horse and using a foot to step onto the stirrup pad of the saddle, and trying to find a way to get up without using your hands. Impossible. You paused as you tried thinking of a way.

“Okay. Since you’re an angry little cripple who won’t ask for help, I’ll offer instead.” He said, reaching down and hooking his arm around your waist and under your arms, pulling you up as you swung your leg over to the other side of the horse, now on it properly. He whipped the reigns, and the horse began to walk forward. He couldn’t see it, but you smiled as you put your arms around his waist to keep yourself steady on the horse.

“Thanks,” You said into his back. You couldn’t see it, but he was smiling too. Only for a brief moment as you heard more horses from far behind you. Turning to look, you saw Commander Erwin, and around ten other soldiers. That was an estimated of five casualties. Your groups were lucky to have had none. You kept your arms wrapped around Levi the entire way back.

The rest of the day was filled with chatter and planning once Commander Erwin came. There were few injuries, but the few that had happened were large injuries, amputated limbs and such. They were sent to the medical tent and taken care of. You were sent to the medical tent to stitch up your right hand as well as sanitize and bandage your left. It happened rather quickly, and afterwards you went back to your squads, noting that while you were in the medical tent Hange had run off towards a titan and Levi followed her.

After a while, Levi and Hange had returned with a small journal at their hands and inspected it in private with Commander Erwin. You walked over to hear the conversation as they read it, trailing a bit behind knowing you shouldn’t be a part of the conversation but being curious anyways. The journal belonged to a woman called Ilse, and it spoke about…talking titans? A ‘Ymir’? Your head hurt, you’ve dealt with enough shit.

Apparently, the journal was enough of a finding since Erwin told the people in the base that they’d be returning to the walls at nightfall to avoid any titan encounters. Hange was annoyed that she didn’t get a titan to keep but was happy with the journal. Until nightfall, you mainly talked to Levi. Talked about how hungry you were, about the journal (although he refused to tell you anything, unaware that you heard most of it already), and then finally, the abnormal titan you two saw.

“It looked kind of like the one from that day.” You muttered, tugging at your bandages. “It freaked me out.”

“Yeah, it did.” Was all Levi had to say in response and you took that as a hint to stop talking about it. Strange, now you were the one willing to talk about that day but he wasn’t. You wondered if you’d ever be able to say their names out loud to each other. You wondered if he thought about that day as much as you did. You had so many questions, but enough understanding to not ask any.

That night, the Scouting Regiment returned home in the dead of night with no additional casualties.


	5. Shapeshifter

A year had passed since the 35th expedition. Many more expeditions had happened, and many more lives were lost. You found yourself extremely lucky, never having lost someone close to you. Hange, Nifa, Nanaba, Mike, Levi. They were all safe, and you couldn’t be happier. 

The year that passed had properly gelled you into the Scouting Regiment. You were no longer an outsider who happened to be on the inside, you were a member, a comrade, a friend. The people who kept dying were typically newer members who panicked at the sight of titans, or were simply unskilled and lacking in talent. You learned, as time went on, to disregard their lives. Erwin and Levi were great mentors when it came to that, although they had different mind sets. Erwin’s was, “We have to lose a few lives to create change”. Levi’s was, “Better not to dwell on it and keep moving forward”. Of course, the loss of soldiers hurt. Watching people scream names of fallen soldiers who couldn’t hear their cries broke your heart. But you had to keep moving forward.

Levi and you had almost completely mended your relationship. You actively talked to him and messed with him like a sister would to her brother. You’d feel happy every time you were in his company, and a sense of emptiness would linger whenever he was gone. Being squad leader, he had a lot more missions than you had. Special Operations force would also, most of the time, go on missions that Hange’s squad didn’t. And each time you’d give him a good-luck-punch, where you’d punch him has hard as possible in the shoulder. His face didn’t say he enjoyed those, but he never told you to stop doing it. You’d miss him the second he left.

What does over a year here do to a person? Well, it desensitizes them to death. You could watch a thousand soldiers die and not think of it, and you have. So why, per se, do you still think constantly about Isabel and Farlan’s deaths? Why do you still lay awake at night thinking about Farlan’s screams, Isabel’s head? The fear of the red-eyed titan was no longer, but the feeling of guilt, shame, and sadness continued to linger. You had yet to talk about their deaths to Levi, and you began to think that that would never change.

And then, Trost.

News doesn’t travel fast across the walls, so unfortunately, the Scout Regiment was told hours too late. Upon receiving the news, Mike immediately commanded his squadron to get on your horses and move to one of the cities outside of Trost. The plan was to kill titans and give civilians a chance to escape, and so you carried through with that protocol. The Special Operations Squad, as per usual, had been contacted first since they were already on a mission closer to Trost, so they were well ahead of your squad by around thirty minutes to an hour. Along with that, Hange and some members of your squad were with Levi’s squad, while you, Nifa, and Lauda rushed towards them with Mike’s squad.

While on course, the plan changed countless times. At first, It was to go to a city behind Trost, then, a city next to Trost once they found out that Levi’s squad had already handled it. By the time you’d reached the wall that needed the attention, it seemed as though the fight was already over. You stood ontop of the wall, Hange and Moblit also standing and looking down, you jogged towards them to see what they were ogling at.  
The breach was plugged? You looked at the giant boulder standing in front of the wall in confusion. You looked at Hange, who was also looking at it in confusion. “Who was in charge of the Trost operation?” She yelled to soldiers who had been there already.

“Commander Pixis, ma’am!” A soldier yelled back.

“Pixis..?” She thought to herself and looked around, both you and her spotted the corpse of a titan at the same time. Next to it three people and a person with the Scout Regiment emblem on their back. Although he stood on top of a titan, you could still tell the height disparity between him and the others on the ground. You squinted and recognized the sleek black hair and undercut.

“It’s Levi!” You told Hange, and you were about to go down to help him, but she put a hand on your chest and pushed you back.

“Stay here!” She ordered, and jumped from the wall, down to the clutter of people and steam. You watched their figures walk towards the three others, two on either side of one crouched person. Said person’s head fell, and you raised an eyebrow in confusion. Did he just pass out? You’re eyes tracked Levi as he called for medics over.

Your eyes peeled away from Hange, Levi, and the three mysterious people and instead looked to the town of Trost. What a disaster. Houses were completely destroyed, and blood was around every corner. Titans still roamed the area but were being kept busy by people scaling the walls as distraction. You looked back at the boulder. What the hell happened here?

You heard an anguished cry and looked to the people scaling the walls. A soldier had flown too close to the sun, and a titan had grabbed her. Your eyes widened. “Mike!” You called out, and he turned to you. “Why are they still being used as bait?! The hole in Trost has already been filled!” You yelled. He furrowed his eyebrows at you.

“Don’t get angry with me L/n. I can’t order them to come back up; they’re under the jurisdiction of Commander Pixis.”

“Fuck his jurisdiction! He’s drunk every second of the fucking day, you have to call them up!” You said, hearing as the soldiers’ teammates as they screamed for her. “They’re dying in vain. They won’t listen to me, you’re a squad leader!” The two of you stared at each other. You knew that if Mike ordered for something under Pixis’ command to change, he’d face the consequences. You herad 3D Maneuver Gear hook onto the wall, and Hange pulled herself up with her upper body weight.

“Hange, the soldiers who were being used as bait haven’t been-” You were cut off by her yelling orders.

“All soldiers on site! Kill the titans, clear out the area!” She yelled, her voice booming throughout the walls.

“Yes ma’am!” A chorus of voices echoed, and the people scaling the walls could finally come up, towards safety. You grit your teeth. _Was it really that hard, Mike?_

The rest of the day was spent with you killing a total of 4 titans on your own. Your gas canister ran empty trying to save people, so you were excused. The ride back to the barracks was silent as people were tired from all the movement and excitement. The first thing you wanted to do was find Levi and ask him what the fuck was going on.

When reaching the barracks, however, you found that Levi was no where to be seen, neither was Hange or Erwin. Hange was probably hanging out with the titans that you had managed to capture, Sonny and Bean, but Levi not being there was nerve racking. You paced around and looked to Petra.

“Hey, Petra,” You said, she turned to you.

“Hm?” She hummed, and you held back the grimace at the high pitch of her voice.

“Do you know where Levi or Erwin are?” You asked.

“They…hm…I believe I heard them talking about a cellar of some sorts, and a prisoner. I couldn’t tell you where or what that is, though, I’m sorry!” She said, bowing slightly at you.

“Thanks for the information, Petra.” You said and began to walk away. You knew exactly where that was. When you first signed up for the mission to assassinate Erwin, you and Isabel had looked down there for the scroll. You could probably retrace your steps and find it.

“Wait, Y/n…” She called out, and you turned around, waiting for whatever she had to say. She looked at you, and then to the ground. “Never mind…sorry.” 

You felt kind of bad for not liking her, suddenly. This was her second time apologizing for nothing in a 5-second-long conversation. “...If you remember what you were going to say later, don’t hesitate to say it.” You said, trying to grant her peace of mind. She mumbled a thank you and nodded softly, still not looking at you.

You found your way to the hatch leading to a staircase the went down to the cellars. It was under the courthouse, interestingly enough. You began to open it.

“What are you doing?” You heard a voice come from behind you and spun around to see Levi.

“Looking for you, dumbass.” You said, standing up from your kneeling position. “I have questions.”

“I probably don’t have the answers.” He said back to you. You sighed and asked anyways.

“What happened to the wall? How did the breach get plugged up by a large boulder?”

“A kid fresh out of the 104th training corps who can apparently transform into a titan picked it up and blocked the breach.” He shrugged and looked at the hatch. “And then passed out.”

Uh, wow. That was a lot of information that you had to process. “Transform…into a titan?” You asked, confused and thrown off. Any other question you got was gone from your head. Transform into a titan? Meaning he is human and can somehow turn into those giants? At will? “Transform into a titan?!” You shouted, Levi forcing a hand over your mouth.

“Shut. The fuck. Up.” He hissed, scanning the area to make sure no one was around that could’ve heard. After making sure it was clear he removed his hand from your mouth and sighed. “Yeah. I don’t get it either. He’s in a coma so we can’t ask him about it.” You took a breath and thought. 

Talk about a step forward for mankind. “So…why is he in the cell?” You asked.

“You think we’d let a kid with the power to turn into the thing that’s been killing us just roam freely?”

“He plugged up the hole, didn’t he?” 

“He might have ulterior motives.” Levi crossed his arms over his chest.

“What’s the likelihood of a kid fresh out of the training corps to have ulterior motives?” You asked, a hand on your hip.

“When we first joined the Scout Regiment it was to kill Erwin.” He said matter-of-factly. You bit your tongue, understanding his reasoning.

“Any idea when he might wake up?” You asked. “Or his name? What about the two people who were with him?” 

“The signs of a deep coma aren’t there. Medics say he’s in REM right now, so chances are he’ll wake up in less than a week. His name is Eren Jaeger, and the two people around him were Armin Arlert and…” He looked away and stared at the wall in thought. “Mikasa Ackerman.”

Your eyes widened. “No way. Ackerman? Are you guys related?” What were the chances?

“I didn’t recognize her, but we do look similar. But then again, it could just be pure coincidence.”

“Ackerman isn’t all that common of a surname.”

“But every Ackerman that I was blood related to was in the underground. She wasn’t.” You both stood in thought, not speaking. “No reason to dwell on it, the main problem right now is the Jaeger kid.” He began walking towards his quarters and you followed. 

“What’s the plan?” You asked, curious.

“Erwin said the royal government wants to hold a court case, because he’s a danger to society or something. We’re going to try to get him to be apart of the Scouting Regiment and see where that takes us. If he has other motives, I’ll kill him.”

The walk back was an attempt to keep the conversation going, but quietly. This whole thing boggled your mind. You wanted to know every bit of information that you could. You’d been looking forward at the path in front of you as you walked, so you turned to look at Levi.

You felt something strange in your heart as you looked at his well-built, angular, slender face. His eyes were a strange colour, not exactly black and instead leaning closer to grey, something you’d only ever seen on him. His hair flushed again his temples, and he looked forward. His side profile really was something to admire, and you couldn’t help but notice that his hair was getting long again.

“Are you listening?” You heard him ask. You snapped out of it- what the fuck was that? 

“Y-yeah, sorry. I just zoned out for a bit.” You said, trying to get rid of the thumping in your chest. What was happening to you? “I haven’t eaten much today, so,” You said, deciding that was the cause of this strange conundrum. 

“Need me to make you something?” He offered, and you shook your head slightly.

“Honestly, this talk made me lose my appetite. Things are changing really fast.” You muttered the last part and exhaled a deep breath. 

“Well, you can head back to your quarters then.” He said, gesturing to the door you two were stopped at. You’d never actually been to the door to his room, but he’s been in your room countless times.

“Okay, talk more tomorrow?”

“Not like I have a choice.” He said, you smiled as you kicked his ankle playfully. “Goodnight, Y/n.” He said, and you waved at him whilst walking off.

“Night,” You said and walked back to your quarters.

Three days after that night, Eren Jaeger woke up from his coma. Levi and Erwin were the only ones allowed to be in the cellar at the time, so you and Hange talked about what could’ve been happening. She was obviously very, very excited to see the shifter. Her leg shook violently as she told you about the court date in two days. She invited you to come with her and Mike to escort him to the courtroom, and you obliged.

The date of the trial came by quickly, and at eight o’clock in the morning, Hange grabbed your wrist from the commons and forced you behind her. “We’ve gotta go! It’s time!” She said, excited. Her energy was a lot, but you were also interested in seeing the kid. You met up with Mike at the hatch door.

The only reason you’d been asked to be part of the chaperone group was because Levi had told you the entire scenario when it was supposed to be private information. You opened the hatch to the cellar and watched Hange walk through it slowly, trying not to make a sound until she got to the bars of the cell. And then she leaped to it, the bars making a loud metal clang, and stuck her head in between the bars. You walked by and stood next to her, looking at the poor thing.

You didn’t know what you were expecting but definitely not just a normal teenager. His hair was dark brown, and his eyes looked like emeralds. He looked scared and confused, and you felt the need to protect this kid. You shook the thought out of your head; he’s someone who can transform into the thing that ate your friends. 

“So you’re Eren,” Hange cooed through the bars. “It’s so nice to meet you, have you slept well? I’m sorry it’s been so long, but you can come out now!” She unlocked the cell and you heard Eren give a sigh of relief. “But you gotta wear these,” Hange said, and held up a pair of cuffs. Eren made a sound that sounded like ‘of course there’s a catch’ but obliged, putting his hands behind his back.

Hange, Mike, Eren and you all walked with two guards following closely behind. “My name is Hange Zoe,” She introduced herself, putting a hand to her chest. “I’m a squad leader of the Scout Regiment. I’ll introduce him since he’s busy sniffing you- That’s Mike Zacharias, the same goes for him.” Mike continued sniffing Eren as he grimaced. What an introduction. Hange nudged you to introduce yourself.

“I’m F/n, L/n. I’m a member of Hange’s squad. Mike did the same thing to me when we met, sorry that it’s so weird.” You emphasized the word ‘weird’ and looked at Mike, who wore a proud grin. You walked a bit more as you watched Eren look _very_ uncomfortable, making you giggle a bit.

“Ah- we’re all out of time, it seems.” Hange said, stopping in front of two gigantic double doors. You watched as Eren tensed. Now he was actively frightened.

You put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small pat. “You’ll be fine.” You told him, and the guards pushed him forward.

“It’s better to go in clueless, anyways.” Hange said. “Best of luck.” She finished, closing the doors behind him and the guards. You, Hange, and Mike walked back and once far enough away from the doors she took a deep breath.

“Was I cool? Did I come off as cool?” She asked, her head going form you to Mike quickly.

“You came off as scary.” You said bluntly, and Mike hummed in agreement. “But not weird, so you’re a step ahead of Mike.” You said, and Hange laughed as Mike stayed silent.

You took a turn that led you to an overlooking balcony for the court and watched as the trial took place. You zoned out for a bit, hearing the townspeople bicker about things that didn’t matter, but you’d always listen carefully to whatever Levi had to say. You thought about it for a bit, and then heard Eren yelling. You looked down and the court room was silent.

Crap, did you miss something important? Something about ‘bet everything on me’? Suddenly, Levi walked forward and kicked Eren in the face. Now you were completely lost, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you watched him continuously beat the living shit out of him. If it were your place, you would’ve told Levi to stop. But it wasn’t, so you stayed standing and watched as this went on for far too long.

Finally, someone you couldn’t see piped up and spoke, and you were out of it again. You scanned the people sitting on Erwin’s side. Your eyes instantly locked onto someone who looked strikingly like Levi. Pale skin, dark hair, thin lips. Was that the other Ackerman? Mikasa, was it? She looked like she was ready to jump out and beat Levi up, but someone was gripping tightly onto her arm. A small blonde boy, with big blue eyes and a cute button nose. Was that Arlert? You assumed so.

“I propose we entrust Eren Jaeger to Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman and bring him out on an expedition with us.” You heard Erwin say. You felt a pout come onto your face. So he’ll let a literal titan onto Levi’s squad, but not you? “We’ll let that expedition be what determines whether Eren lives or dies.”

“Could you handle that, Levi?” The court overseer asked.

“I’m certain I can kill him. The only problem is that there’d be no alternative.” He responded.

The overseer had come to a decision, and you were all excused. Eren Jaeger would be kept under the watch of Levi. You walked through the doors with Hange and Mike, meeting up with Erwin, Levi, and Eren. All six of you walked to a room in the barracks and Hange sat Eren down to help him with his wounds. You stood next to Levi on a wall standing across from Hange, Erwin and Eren. Mike looked out the window in disinterest.

“Do you think this was the right decision?” You asked, and Levi shrugged.

“We’ll find out on the expedition to Karanes District” He said. “I don’t have future vision so I won’t know if this was the right choice, but it does _feel_ right.” You nodded and watched Eren and Commander Erwin shake hands. 

“You don’t hate me, do you, Eren?” Levi asked from next to you, making Eren look at you.

“No sir- I understand why you did it.” He answered.

“You get a free ‘Punch Levi’ card from me.” You said, smiling. “Redeemable at any time.”

“You’re just mad that I looked great from your view. Can’t say the same myself.” Levi said, and your mouth was held agape as Erwin chuckled. You closed your moth and thought of a comeback.

“Aw, were you looking at me? How sweet, I didn’t think I’d be such a distraction.” You grinned at him while his face remained stern. However, you saw the slightest up turn on one side of his lips.

“Enough banter,” Hange said. “I still think Levi took it way too far, Eren’s tooth fell out.”

“And you picked it up?” You muttered to yourself, and Levi grimaced.

“That’s disgusting.” Levi said. Hange smiled and looked at Eren.

“Could you open your moth for me, Eren? So that I can see the tooth hole?” Hange asked, and reluctantly Eren obliged. Hange was silent as she looked, and then made a confused mumble.

“…It already grew back.”


	6. Intoxication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long one! It's technically two chapters in one, since I wrote out the chapter and didn't like the way I ended it, so I added a lot more detail and changed how it started. Long awaited; you guys finally have The Talk.

You had the misfortune of being with Hange when the Sonny and Bean experiments went down. You watched as she talked on and on to beasts who couldn’t respond and screamed as she saw that they felt pain. This was, however, one of the few moments you had that you could zone out and think about nothing in particular. Your job was to stand back and interfere in the case that Sonny or Bean ended up getting a hold of Hange, but you knew that would never happen. They got close a few times, but nothing that Hange couldn’t handle herself.

Your days had seemingly been getting longer when Levi and his squad moved to that strange castle, apparently the Scouting Regiment’s old base. Without you to bother him, what on earth would he do in his spare time? You found yourself lucky, though, noting that you wouldn’t have to engage in the cleaning exercises that his squad was probably going through. He’d probably make them clean the entire castle up to three times if he wasn’t satisfied, or end up cleaning the entire place themselves and making them feel guilty about it. You smiled to yourself think about it.

“Y/n?” You heard Nifa say, and your eyes refocused on your surroundings. “You okay? You look…” She tried to find the right words. “As if you’re daydreaming about something you love? I don’t think there’s a word to properly describe that emotion.” When saying the last part, she put a hand on her chin and looked up in thought. “Not bashful…not sheepish…damn, is there a word?” She muttered to herself. As she thought to herself you gazed at the sky.

“Something I love, huh?” You asked yourself. Did you…love Levi? You snorted and laughed when you realized what you were thinking; don’t be ridiculous. You loved him like an older brother, maybe, but being romantically interested in him was out of the question. “I don’t think that’s the case, I was just zoning out.” You told Nifa, and she smiled at you.

“Whatever you say, Y/n. But don’t think I or the rest of the squad haven’t taken note of how you act around certain people.” She cooed, and you raised an eyebrow in confusion. The way you act around certain people? What was that meant to mean? 

“You guys are taking notes on me now? Kinda creepy.” You teased, although you truly wondered why they were surveying you close enough to feel the need to take notes. Were you acting in a way that they saw as abnormal?

“Well,” She smiled, walking away. “If you guys ever kiss let me know; I’ve got a bet to win.” You looked at her, taken in awe at this new fact. There were bets going around that you’d kiss someone, then? Who? Her antics were burrowing a hole into your head, and you couldn’t stop thinking about it. Were you in love with someone? Were you in love with Levi? Maybe they’re talking about Commander Erwin, since you kiss his ass pretty often. You heard Hange scream and looked up to see her fallen on her ass as Sonny tried to bite her again. 

“You’re getting to close!” Moblit yelled as Hange laughed.

That night, Hange told your squad that she was heading to the old Scouting Regiments base to talk with Eren. You chimed in at the chance to see Levi again.

“Could I join?” You asked, and you felt Nifa’s grin from beside you.

“Unfortunately not, I’ve deemed this a solo mission!” She boasted proudly, and you shrugged. Fine by you, you didn’t care about not having seen Levi for a week- absolutely not. There was nothing that was pushing you to want to see him. The feeling of Nifa’s grin burnt through your cheeks, and you felt your face heat up. “I mean, if you really want to,” Hange began, but you cut her off.

“No, it’s fine!” You said, doing a one-eighty as you decided you didn’t want to see Levi, or Eren. “I need extra sleep tonight anyways, and something tells me that if I tag along, I won’t be able to get it.” You’re always so quick with the excuses. Hange nodded.

“Alright then, I’ll be out there! Kiss Sonny and Bean goodnight for me. You’re all dismissed.” She said, and you rolled your eyes, bidding her adieu and watching as she walked out the door. Nifa elbowed you in the arm, and you look at her. She smiled at you and waggled her eyebrows.

“You’re getting in my head.” You said, feeling heat in your cheeks and turning towards your quarters as Nifa giggled.

“G’night!” You heard her call from behind you.

In bed that night, her words repeated as your head turned into a kaleidoscope that only showed images of Levi. You tossed and turned but were unable to sleep as the thoughts in your head kept going. At some point, you managed to fall asleep.

“Y/n, wake up!” Keiji yelled at you and you sat up from your sleep startled. A bright, white-ish light went through your windows, indicating the sun wasn’t even completely out yet.

“Keiji. What if I were naked, and you just barged in like that-”

“Sonny and Bean are dead.” You looked at him in confusion.

“What?” You asked, rubbing your eyes awake.

“They were murdered by people with 3D Manuever Gear; no time to explain, get dressed and hurry down to where they were stationed!” He commanded you, and you nodded.

“Has anyone told Hange?” You asked as you sped to your drawers and picked out your pants, jacket, and belts.

“Moblit was sent to call her, she should be coming soon. Now, hurry up.” He said, shutting the door. You undressed into your uniform and jogged out to the dirt-filled section and saw the steaming bodies of the two titans.

“What happened…?” Lauda came towards you with a confused and worried look.

“Apparently someone with 3D Maneuver Gear got them.” You mumbled.

“So they were one of us? Why?” She asked, and you shrugged.

“At this point, they’re helping out the titans more than they are us. I don’t know anyone who’d want to help titans. So I’ve got no clue.” As if on cue, Hange rushed into the plain and screamed.

She got closer to them and dropped to her knees, tears pouring out of her eyes. You looked at her with saddened eyes, not sure about what to do. You wanted to comfort her but decided that letting her get it all out was what needed to happen for now. You continued to watch powerlessly. You felt a hand on your upper back as someone walked next to you. You turned your head to your left and instantly Nifa’s words rung in your head.

“You okay?” Levi asked, his hood up. You nodded, trying not to think about the thoughts that plagued your mind last night as you struggled to sleep.

“I feel bad. I wish I could comfort her.” You said, Levi removing his hand from your back and crossing them across his chest.

“Did you see them?” He asked, and you shook your head.

“I was asleep when it happened, most people were.” You answered, and he gave a disgruntled groan.

“What a waste of time.” He mumbled, looking straight ahead at Hange screaming and the two steaming bodies. “Now we’re going to have to waste time checking every single recruit’s gear. And right before the initiation ceremony.” He gave a heavy sigh. “God.” He muttered through gritted teeth. You looked at him, and you could tell he was more stressed out than usual. Typically, the sight of you would soften his face and untense his shoulders. Now, however, his eyebrows were kept permanently furrowed and his jaw was clenched, making you frown. How can you even help?

“Well,” You started, thinking about how to go about taming an Ackerman. “At the very least, no human lives were harmed. The people who did this were only after the titans, for whatever reason. Our men should remain unharmed.” You watched as his jaw unclenched. “And it’s not like you have to bear all the responsibility of figuring out who did this on your own. We’re all in it together.” His eyebrows unfurrowed and relaxed.

“You’re right.” He said, and you smiled.

“Captain Levi,” You heard Oluo called out, and you both turned to look at him. “We’re supposed to be on our way back.” He said. Your smile left your face.

“Leaving so soon?” You asked, looking at Levi. He looked stressed again. 

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to keep listening to Hange’s screams.” He joked. “See you later.” Levi said, starting to walk away. He stopped in his step for a second. Without looking at you, he muttered “And stay safe. Please.”

You looked at the back of his head and didn’t respond. He walked away with his squad, and you heard the clambering of horses in the distance. You looked down at the ground. 

Do you love him?

Maybe you did. You thought back to when you had first met, how terrified of him you were. Despite giving you a roof over your head and taught you how to fight, his demeanor was terrifying to you. Fear turned to contempt for a brief period of time. The way he commanded you made you want to pull the hair out of your head in frustration. Hatred turned into reverence; after Isabel and Furlan had died and he spent those weeks helping you recover as he had before. Reverence into…love? You thought on it.

Time passed, and the expedition outside was nearing in. At the initiation assembly, you watched from the back as hundreds of recruits walked away when asked to join the Scouting Regiment. You looked at the few left, taking note of Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert specifically. You looked around to the others, wondering why they were still here when they had faces of mortification sewed onto them.

The next day was spent going over plans for the expedition, explaining which lines meant what and how the rotation would go. Other things like flair gun colours were explained, but you had already known about all of that. Within a month you all would be on the 57th expedition beyond the walls.

You helped Hange administer tests on Eren Jaeger, under the supervision of Levi and his squad and a few more of your own. You watched painfully as Eren bit his hands as hard as possible, blood leaking onto the ground and his shoes below him. You watched in awe as lightning came from the sky and Eren would transform into a 14-meter titan. You wondered how it felt to be struck by lightning such as that, and how well Eren could control himself in his titan form. That and more, you knew, Hange would find out.

In preparation for the next mission, two nights beforehand the Scout Regiment put together a small party to loosen the nerves of everyone. It would take place at the old Scouting Regiment base, to Levi’s dismay. When asking why it was going to happen two days before instead of a day before, Erwin told you that it was so anyone with a hangover could use the day after to recover. 

Ah, so there’ll be alcohol, and lots of it. 

It’d been a long while since you’ve properly gotten drunk. Back in the underground with Levi and Furlan was probably the last time you’d gotten blackout, and while in the Scout Regiment you’d take a few sips of wine as courtesy when it was offered. You decided tonight you’d let yourself have a little fun. You needed to stop thinking about Levi, anyways. Just for one night.

The time came, and everyone huddled into the commons. Everyone was out of uniform, wearing common clothes. Eren Jaeger sat, and although Hange offered him to drink, he refused for the time being. You assumed it was because Mikasa was staring him down. You grabbed a cup of alcohol and returned to your seat near Levi and his squad. Loud music played from Mike with a guitar — who would’ve thought he had that talent? — and people danced and sang. It was a beautiful sight, honestly. For once every single person here was enjoying themselves, even Keiji, if you could believe that.

You looked at Eren, and then slightly intoxicated you rose from your seat. “Anyone who wants to play Never Have I Ever come here!” You pointed at Eren. “You don’t have a choice.” Eren looked around, surprised. Funnily enough, he was sheepish when it came to the people in the Scouting Regiment, for whatever reason. He walked over to your table with his two friends, as did Hange, Moblit, Mike, Nefi, Petra, and Oluo. All the other new recruits enjoyed their own drinks elsewhere. After a few seconds, you watched as Commander Erwin sat next to you with a brightened, yet shocked, expression. Levi sighed. He just happened to already be sitting next to you so, unfortunately, he was now playing the game too. Good, you hadn’t seen him take a single sip of alcohol yet.

“Okay, who first?” You asked.

“Only fair that it’s you, since you started the game.” Nifa smiled at you, and with no one against the idea you started.

“Alright...never have I ever...known how to swim.” You said. A few groans came from the table as most people took sips. You and Levi must’ve been the only ones who didn’t drink. You watched as Eren sniffed his alcohol and then took a small sip, his face contorting as he coughed. You laughed, as Mikasa pat his back and Armin looked at him worriedly. 

“You don’t know how to swim, Y/n? You either, Captain Levi?” Nifa asked, placing down her cup.

“The underground doesn’t exactly have pools of water sitting around to learn.” You shrugged. “And our trainings never involved swimming, so,” 

“Well, the chances of us ever getting into a large body of water and fighting are close to none, so I suppose it’s not that big of an issue.” Mike said, and to that Armin opened his mouth to say something, later deciding to shut it quickly.

“What was that, Armin?” You said, putting him on the spot, and he staggered.

“Uh-uhm...I-I can do the next question.” He said, and you smiled, giving him the floor. “Never have I...ever...” He dragged on the ‘ever’ in thought, “...gone beyond the walls.” The entire Scout Regiment broke into shouting. You laughed hard as you took your drink, tears pricking your eyes. Erwin gave a hearty chuckle as he took a sip of his.

“Well, shit, he got us.” Hange said after she took a large swig of the alcohol she had in front of her.

For the most part, the rest of the game went on like that. You learned a lot, way too much, about a lot of people. Nifa used to not eat her food because it was her only form of control. Nanaba had an abusive family. Mike could see smells. Hange had romantic dreams about titans. You were baffled, but there was never a question where you were the only one to drink. It was your turn again.

“Uhh...okay,” You hiccupped, your vision slipping into a blurry fuzz. “Never have I ever held my teacups like a dumbass because I didn’t realize how to actually hold teacups because I grew up underground.” You breathed sharply. “And I thought that the way I was holding it was the right w-way to hold it and I never changed it because I had a superiority complex.” Everyone’s eyes snapped to Levi, who looked at you in anger. Silently, however, he took a drink. The people sitting around you burst into laughter, Hange smacking the table as tears flowed down her eyes, Erwin laughing politely into his elbow. 

Levi was pissed, and you could tell, but you were having fun. You swung an arm around him and pulled him close. “It’s okay, sweetheart! Don’t be so angry.”

“Address me properly, L/n. Captain.”

“Sweetheart!” You teased.

“Captain.” He growled. 

Petra watched the two of you, and put her hands up. “Okay, okay, enough of that! Let’s not start a fight. Captain, your turn.” She hurried onwards. You let go of Levi and unhooked your arm from him. Levi sighed, and thought. There was nothing he was willing to give away about his private life.

“Come on, let’s go!” Hange said in a sing-song voice, Moblit having to steady her in her chair.

Levi decided to say the first thing that came to mind. “Never have I ever been a virgin, I guess.” He said.

“Okay, we don’t need to know about your sexual life.” Nanaba said, laughing. “Plus, no one here’s taken a shot, so you have to now.”

You quickly took a shot.

Unfortunately, the speed of your shot made everyone notice it, including Levi, who must’ve choked on his spit in surprise.

“Oh my,” Nanaba said, looking in shock.

“No way!” Oluo gasped, a hand in front of his mouth to hide an amused grin.

“Wasn’t expecting that.” Erwin muttered, amused.

“Captain, you didn’t know?” Petra asked, watching as Levi must’ve been the most shocked in the room. He looked at you in surprise, speechless.

“You’re lying.” He said, and you shook your head, embarrassed. 

“I’ve done sexual shit but never, like, had sex, ya’know?” You said, waving your arms and accidentally knocking over your glass of alcohol, spilling it onto the table. As if on cue, Hange hurled into her own cup. 

“Oooh-kay. That seems like a good signal to wrap it up.” Erwin said, grabbing your cup and getting a towel to wipe up your mess. You swore he drank more than you and Hange combined, and yet here he was still speaking coherently. What was that man made of? Metal? Unfortunately, your body refused to sit up. Everyone around the table sat up and left, Eren stumbling a little as he walked, needing Mikasa and Armin to help him up.

“Y/n,” Levi tapped your shoulder. “Lets go.”

“Captain, we’re headed back to the barracks.” Petra called, waiting with Oluo and Eren; Mikasa and Armin needed to go back to the cadet barracks.

“Go on ahead, I have a drunk-off-her-tits brat to take care of.” He called back, not once looking at her. Petra’s lips sealed tightly and she hesitated, but walked off.

“Y/n.” Levi said, leaning down to you.

“I’m so embarrassed…” You groaned, hands tingling and face hot. 

“Go be embarrassed in your bedroom.” He said, forcing your arm around his neck and holstering you up with his hand around your waist. The two of you walked out of the commons. Levi was supporting about 60% of you, and although it was easy for him, he knew he’d probably end up having to carry 100% of you back to your room.

“My room is closer, I’ll take you there.” He said, looking over at you giggling to yourself.

“You’re inviting me to your room? Isn’t that a little...much, sweeth-sweetheart?” The very fact that you were only slurring words every now and then and not completely incomprehensive was a miracle. He groaned and continued dragging you through the barracks. He was intoxicated too, had he not been he would’ve taken you all the way to your room and walked back. But he didn’t trust himself to do that right now.

You talked a lot while drunk. He was surprised at how a human being could talk so much about everything and at the same time absolutely fucking nothing. What were you even on about right now? Levi tuned into your talking.

“So what I’m saying is, if there actually were a God, he’d probably be kept underwater or somethin’,”

He tuned back out of the conversation. Unbelievable. Had you even drank water since you started drinking?

“Y/n,” Levi interrupted. “Have you drunk any water?”

“Uhrm...does alcohol count? I took sips of alcohol in between every drink.” You giggled.

Holy shit.

Luckily, you’d reached Levi’s bedroom, and he opened the door with a free hand and brought you inside. He sat you down on his bed.

“Woaaah- Levi! Captain’s quarters are so big- you’ve got your own bathroom ‘n everything!”

The room, in actuality, wasn’t that big. A queen-sized bed on one side, an armchair and desk with a lamp on it on the other side, a door that led to a small, cramped bathroom. Better than using the public ones that you were used to using as a mere squad member.

Levi walked to the sink, pulled a glass from the cabinet under it, cleaned it with a rag for good caution, and filled it with water. He walked out of the bathroom and handed you the glass. “Drink.” He ordered. You obliged after you said a slur of words that made no sense whatsoever. He sighed and turned the armchair towards you, and sat in it, watching you gulp down the water. The alcohol was seeping into his blood and he realized the tingly-numb feeling in his lips and fingers.

As you sipped your drink your head returned to Nifa’s words. Unfortunately, the water was doing it’s job and making your head clearer. You breath reeked of alcohol and you wanted to brush your teeth to get it out. The taste in your mouth and the word “love” stirring around your head made you dizzy. You took another sip of water, it somehow enhancing the lingering taste of alcohol in your mouth. You suddenly realized the silence between you and Levi, so you looked at him. He had his elbow resting on the armchair and a head in his hand. His eyes were closed.

“You’re not-“ Hiccup. “Actually gonna sleep there are ya?” You asked, standing up to put the empty cup of water onto his desk. He looked up at you, you noticed he was swaying slightly. You grabbed his hands and stood him up. “Your bed is big enough for two people.” You said, smiling.

He looked at you, and sighed. “I don’t like sleeping in bed with a shirt on.” He said and you shrugged. 

“I don’t care!” You said. “I don’t like sleeping with pants on. So, what if we both sleep how we want to and not talk about it?” You began to take your pants off. You’ll hate yourself for it later if you don’t end up forgetting, but drunk you didn’t care. You left your pants on the floor and jumped into Levi’s bed, laying closest to the wall, and pushed the blanket up to your stomach.

Levi watched as you did so, the alcohol making his face a hue of pink. He sighed and pulled his shirt over his head and folded it nearly onto the armchair. He got into bed next to you, and you both looked at the ceiling in silence.

“The last time you saw me with this much skin exposed,” You began. “Was when we first met, huh?” You smiled at the ceiling thinking about it. You heard Levi chuckle to your right.

“Yeah. God you looked like a mess.” He reminisced. 

“I’d just gotten in my final fight with my dad.” You said. “He stripped me of some of my clothes and I just fucking booked it out the door.” You remembered it all clearly, you were young, around sixteen or so, and had nowhere else to go. You walked around the underground with a blanket you found on the ground shielding you and nothing else. “You took pity on me,” You thought about his young face, still slender but not as tired as it was now. “And you brought me to your place and gave me your clothes.”

You could feel both of your breaths get quieter. Neither of you dared move until the next part was said. “…and you introduced me to Furlan.” You said, tears pricking your eyes. You tried your best to keep them from falling but in the drunken state you were in, that wasn’t going to happen. “He had the softest smile.” A tear fell from your eyes. “Pretty eyes and a beautiful heart.” You sniffed, your hand brushing away the tears. You looked next to you and caught Levi’s expression. He was wide-eyed, looking directly at the ceiling above you.

You continued. You were tired of keeping it inside. “Isabel was the cutest. She came in with that dumb bird and I could never stop looking at her since. Her energy was so high all the time, it felt like watching a puppy.” 

“Stop it.” Levi breathed.

“I can’t live with these nightmares every single night, Levi. I can’t live like it never happened. We can’t keep avoiding this.” You looked at him, and his head slowly turned to look at you. “I miss them so much.” You sobbed, squeezing your eyes shut and facing the ceiling. You put your elbow your face to cover it. “I’ve been wondering if I was the only one of us who kept thinking about them.” You tried to keep your breathing normal. “Because-”

“Of course I fucking think about them!” He shouted, you flinched at the sudden increase in volume. You removed your arm and looked at him. He was seated up now, you could only see his bare back. “I think about them every second of every day. It _hurts_ to think about them, Y/n.” You sat up and looked at him.

“Do you think they would’ve wanted us to act like they never fucking existed?” You asked. He turned his waist to face you. You saw smudged tears on his cheeks.

“It doesn’t matter what they wanted. They’re dead.” 

Your eyebrows down-turned and you looked at him as tears welled up once again. You stifled a whimper as you looked down at the blanket. You grabbed Levi’s hand and held it tightly with both hands. You knew he wasn't trying to be mean, he was just dealing with his grief in a way that you didn't.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save them.” You said, your voice straining as you forced it out. He was about to say something, but he was stopped by you suddenly raising your head. “We need to keep living for them.” You said. “We can’t let their memory die with us.” You looked at each other for a bit, and you tried to smile at him. “It’s okay if you’re not ready to talk about them. When you are, I’ll be here.” You gave his hand a final squeeze before letting go. You were ready to lay back down but his next words caught you off guard.

“I thought you hated me.” He muttered, making you look at him in confusion. “When you ignored me for weeks. I thought you hated me. I thought you never wanted to see me again. I…” He looked for words. “I was so scared that I’d lost you.” You put hands on either side of his face and made him look on you.

“I could never hate you, Levi.” _I love you._ Just say it. You heard thumped in your chest when he gave you a warm look and put his hand over one of yours. You leaned in.

You tilted your head slightly to on side. He hesitated at first, but you felt him tilt to the other and lean in slowly as well. You were sure you were going to kiss him, but then suddenly your body slumped against his and onto his lap.

He looked down at you, confused. He put his hand in front of your mouth to check that you were still breathing, and sighed. You’d passed out. He grabbed your torso and laid back down, placing your head on his bare chest and watched as your ribs expanded and contracted with each deep breath. He placed a hand around you and onto your shoulder to keep you where you were, looking at the ceiling. He thought to himself; were you two about to kiss? He already had known that he loved you, but he’d never thought a kiss would happen at any point in time. He never thought you’d be interested.

He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes. Alright, then. He wasn’t too intoxicated so he’d remember in the morning. 

He’ll kiss you when you both come back from the 57th expedition. His future looked bright.


	7. The Day Before

You sat up in bed, the sudden movement making the right side of your head pulsate. Your surroundings were unfamiliar to you, the walls a pure white instead of a burnt beige. You tried thinking to yourself, your hair a disheveled mess around your head. What the hell had happened last night? You remembered playing a drinking game with the Scout Regiment, you admitted to an embarrassing fact about yourself, Levi started taking you to your room…and then what? You put a hand to your head and covered the right side of your face. The sun peeked through the windows far too much for your liking, and that didn’t help the throbbing in your head. You looked to your left, seeing the window and grimacing. You looked to your right.

You gasped audibly and leaned further away from the resting body next to you. Levi Ackerman laid there, shirtless. You watched his back rise and fall as your head went a hundred places at once. You looked at the ground next to the bed, seeing your pants on the ground and feeling your face heat up a million degrees. This is what you get for drinking.

Levi’s body moved and you looked down at him. His face was turned to you and one eye opened very slightly to look at you. He grumbled and flipped onto his back, propping himself up on his elbows. “Morning.” He said, and you couldn’t respond. He looked at you and sighed. “You don’t remember jackshit, do you?” He asked.

“Did…did we…?” You gestured to him, and to the clothes on the ground. He thought for a minute.

“Yeah.” He answered. “You’re loud as fuck, by the way. Hange came in to tell us to quiet down.” You didn’t think your face could heat up anymore, but it did. You put your face in your hands as you mumbled a sad “nooo…”. Levi rolled his eyes and nudged you. “I’m joking. We didn’t do anything. You wanted to sleep without pants and I wanted to sleep without a shirt, so we did.” You raised your head and punched Levi in the shoulder.

“That’s not funny, Ackerman!” You complained, and he gave a very short chuckle.

You heard a knock come from Levi’s door and froze, looking at the door in horror. “Captain, permission to enter?”

Oluo’s voice. You looked towards Levi with daggers in your eyes. ‘Don’t you dare.’ You mouthed at him, and he looked towards the door.

“Permission granted.” He said, and you refrained from hitting him in the shoulder. Your eyes scanned the room quickly, thinking if there was a way to hide as the world turned in slow motion. You realized quickly that you weren’t wearing pants and getting out of bed right now would expose you to Oluo if you didn’t hide in time. You were stuck.

“I have papers from Commander Erwin about what needs to be packed and such, he says you need to sanction them to each squad member properly, the other squad leaders will be doing the same.” Oluo didn’t look to the right of where he was walking in, he instead bee-lined towards the desk. He set the papers down and looked at the armchair which held Levi’s folded shirt.

“Huh?” He took a step back to look at it and instead stepped on your black pants. His head snapped to the floor behind him, and then to the bed where he saw the two of you. Your hand was on your face in a sloppy facepalm.

“Oluo,” You started. “Don’t tell anyone, we didn’t do anything.”

“Are you kidding me?” Oluo said, his face tinged a dark color but a grin on his face. “Petra owes me money.” You were about to get out of bed to beat that idiot up when Levi grabbed your shoulder and threw you back.

“You’re dismissed.” He stated, and Oluo gave a laughable salute before running out and slamming the door shut. You grit your teeth and got out of bed to put on your pants. 

“What the fuck was that?” You asked, glaring at Levi. He shrugged.

“I’m getting tired of those stupid bets going around.” He said.

“Your squad too?” Your glare softened as you pulled the hem up to your waist. 

Levi nodded. “I thought it would end after weeks of us not having any interactions, but those idiots won’t give up. Now that they’ve got what they were looking for, these bets should end.” You tightened the draw strings on your pants.

“So you did all of that without thinking about all the stares and weird lines we’re going to get from our peers?” You questioned, grabbing Levi’s shirt and tossing it to him.

“Not like they weren’t happening already.” He answered, getting up and putting the shirt into his closet and getting out a different shirt and his jacket which bore the wings of freedom on the back. You had no comeback so you watched, and he turned to look at you. “You look like a mess. Go back to your own quarters and freshen up.”

You grumbled and turned towards the door, Levi thought about making a joke about the attempted kiss but he was certain you didn’t remember any of that transpiring. He turned his attention back to his clothes. He’ll kiss you when he gets back from the expedition, but at the moment there were more important things to think about.

You walked out of the room and to your quarters, miraculously avoiding anyone from yours or Levi’s squad before changing into your uniform and grabbing your head. You decided to head to the infirmary to grab some sort of medicine for your head. You walked in, seeing a few people in beds with buckets of vomit at their sides. You found a nurse and called for her.

“Do you maybe have anything that could help with a headaches?” You asked, the woman looking to her sheet.

“We have ergotamine pills we can give.” She answered, and you sighed in relief.

“Great, I’d love that.”

“You and the rest of the Scouting Regiment, apparently.” She mumbled, and you followed her as she grabbed two pills and a glass of water and handed them to you.

“Even Commander Erwin?” You asked, taking a swig one pill at a time.

“Not that I’ve seen, I’m pretty certain he went on a spontaneous run this morning, in fact.” You narrowed your eyes and handed her the glass of water back. You began to question whether he was human or not.

“Huh. Thank you for the medicine, anyways.”

“Try to tell the rest of them to not drink so much in one night. We don’t have enough pills for the entire military.” She said, and you chuckled and nodded.

You went to the “lair”, as Hange called it. It was where you and your squad would typically go for any orders from her since she would be there almost all the time. When you headed down there, it was just you and Hange. You saluted to her.

“You’re late,” She said, smiling. 

“I woke up late, sorry.” You said, walking forward.

“In who’s bed?” She asked, and your head snapped to her in surprise.

“You know?” You said and she laughed creepily as she usually does.

“Oh, Y/n. Half the Scouting Regiment knows. News travels fast.” Your heart sank. “But besides that,” She pushed up her glasses. “Your job for the time being is to pack the horse pouches with flairs. When you’re done with that, come back to me for more orders.” You quickly saluted and left the room as fast as you could.

Suddenly, it felt like everyone’s eyes were on you. You were probably overreacting and it was just the paranoia that was making your skin crawl, but you couldn’t think properly. You just had to get to the utility room that held pouches and flairs.

Once reaching it, you closed the door behind you and sighed in relief. Now, you wouldn’t have to be around anyone who might know.

“Oh hi, Y/n. I guess we got stationed here together.” You flinched at the high pitch voice and looked at Petra. Your luck wasn’t going too great, it seemed.

“Yeah.” You responded coolly, trying to get your thoughts and feelings under control. You stood across from her and began working. Open pouch, flair gun, yellow flair, red flair, black flair, purple flair, green flair, acoustic flair, close pouch. Repeat. The faster you got it done, the faster you could get out of here. You and Petra worked in silence for a bit until she piped up.

“You and Levi have known each other for a long time, huh?” She asked, making you stop your packing for a moment before picking back up again.

“Yeah.” You said. “Nearing around ten years now, I guess.” 

“Wow.” A sigh came from Petra. “You guys must have a really good bond.”

You stayed quiet and tried to focus on what you were doing. You tried to understand what she was getting at, or what she was trying to say. Oluo was the first one to see you and Levi, so Petra had to be the second. Why won’t she just question you or make an obvious comment like Hange did? 

The sound of her packing the pouches ceased. “I see how you look at him.” She said, making you look up at her. “And how he looks at you.”

“Petra, whatever you’re thinking-” You began and she stopped you.

“You said if I remembered what I wanted to say, I shouldn’t hesitate, right?” You kept your mouth shut to let her continue. “Every single mission we’ve gone on, he looks at you before he looks at anyone else.” She continued. “When he gets the chance to see you, he does. It doesn’t matter whether he’s made plans with anyone. It’s you over anyone else when it comes to him.” You watched as she gripped the empty pouch in her hands tightly. “I admire him a lot. I really, really do. I’ve tried everything to get his attention. But he only holds interest in you.”

She laughed, continuing. “When I first got placed in his squad I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. So cool and collected. The first few weeks he gave us his undivided attention and I just fell for him even harder.” You grit your teeth but held your tongue. “But the only reason that was the case was because you were in the infirmary. He went to you every single night. Went to the commons just to get food and bring it to you. When you got out of the infirmary, it was like we didn’t even exist anymore. Instead of being his friends, we went back to just being his squadron.”

She looked at you. “I wanted to make him happy. I wanted to be the one who could do that.” She said. “But more than anything, I want him to be happy.” She released her tight hold on the pouch. “And if it’s you who’s qualified for that job, then…” She smiled warmly at you. “Then I’m happy.”

Your heart burnt at this. You realized all of the thoughts you had on her, how you thought she was annoying and a headache, feeling as if she was your competition rather than your ally. All these thoughts were unprovoked, unnecessary, and took the wrong take on her character. You looked at her warm smile, the way color lined her cheeks. 

“I just wanted to say it. And after the news from Oluo this morning, I thought it would be a good time to get it off my chest.” You didn’t know what to say. 

“I’m sorry, Petra.” You said, shoulders slouched. You didn’t even feel like defending yourself by explaining that nothing had happened between you and Levi last night.

“Don’t be,” Petra said, going back to packing the pouches. “Being my friend is apology enough.”

You wanted to cry, you felt so bad for the year of prejudice you had been keeping on this girl. You wanted to lighten the mood.  
“So…” You began. “Oluo seems pretty interested in you.” She brought the bag up to her face to cover it.

“Oh my gosh, don’t even make me think about it.” She laughed, and you did too.

“I mean, he’s _basically_ Levi.”

“Blasphemous!” She shouted as you both laughed. “God, he tries way too hard.”

“Right? Like, an undercut? When did that happen?”

“He looks like Levi’s age while Levi looks Oluo’s age. It boggles my mind.”

The two of you spent good time in each other’s company as you talked about your lives before the Scout Regiment. You shared tales about the underground and she looked at you in awe. Before you knew it, all the pouches were packed and lined up nicely at each table. You put out your fist and she fist bumped you, proud of the work you two had done in so little time as a proud grin was plastered on both of your faces.

“I guess now we go and find different tasks, yeah?” She asked and you nodded.

“Yup.” You said, looking around. You looked at each other.

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She smiled at you as you both walked to the door. You smiled back as you opened the door.

“See you then.” You said, and you both went in opposite directions. Her, heading to Levi to get more orders, and you to Hange.

The rest of the day you did as you were told, with your most time-consuming task been to help make portions for soldiers to take with them in the morning. You got a lot of questions asked, but after your talk with Petra, you couldn’t care less.

“Heard you had a little sleepover with the Captain.” Someone would say.

“I did, what about it?” You would respond confidently.

You were scared for what Commander Erwin had to say when you bumped into him, but all he had to say was “Don’t get distracted tomorrow.” With a soft smile.

After eating a quick dinner, you head back to your quarters and laid onto your bed happily. There was no way tomorrow’s expedition could go wrong when your mood was so high. You head to sleep with a smile on your face, no visions haunting you.


	8. 57th Expedition 1.0

Early next morning, far earlier than you would’ve been happy with, Erwin called you to his office. You begrudgingly got dressed and walked slowly to his office, walking past Levi’s quarters and smiling to yourself on the way there. You entered the office and saluted at the doorway.

“I’m sorry this is such short notice,” He began, looking down at his papers. “As you know this expedition also doubles as a way to find a possible spy in our ranks.” You nodded, this information had been shared with you weeks earlier, since you had joined the Scouts before the fall of Wall Maria. “There’s a change in plans that I’d like for you to handle; firstly, where does it say that Eren Jaeger is stationed in your plans?”

You thought for a bit, knowing the answer after having reread the plans many times over. “They state he’s in the right flank, sir.” You answered. He nodded.

“I need you to be aware that everyone’s plan says something different about Eren’s location.” He began. “He’ll actually be held in the center flank with the Special operations Squad.” You momentarily fumbled with your upright stance.

“But sir, why?” You asked, but Erwin didn’t pay you any mind. As Hange had said to you a few times before, Erwin does things his own way and usually people don’t really understand why. You straightened up once again, understanding you were not going to get an answer for the time being.

“Secondly, I’ll be assigning you as a squad leader for this expedition.” You looked at him, eyes wide.

“Sir, I don’t have any proper training. The expedition begins in a few hours.” What was he thinking? He nodded.

“That’s correct. Which means you need to meet your squad members as soon as possible.” He said, flipping through sheets of papers and handing you one with five lists of names next to traits and rankings. “Your group will be in the right flank. The basics of the formation are on that sheet of paper I’ve given you.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.” You said, reading over the list of papers. “Why the sudden change? Have I been thrown out of Hange’s squad?” The rankings of the members in your squad were questionably low. There was not a single member above rank 70 on your squad.

“No, you’ll be put back into her squad when we get back. However, this is very important. Listen closely.” You picked your head up and looked at him. His icey blue eyes looked into yours and you somehow felt intimidated.

“In the case that anything abnormal happens, or anything goes wrong…set off an acoustic flair and disregard your squad to join with mine and Hange’s in the front-center flank.”

“Disregard my squad?”

“Yes, establish a second in command and leave them in charge. We have a plan for luring the spy into the forest of giant trees. If you see the spy or anything wrong, you’ll help pull off the capturing.” Erwin stated. You gulped.

“Commander, with all due respect, why me?” You asked. “Surely I’m nothing too exemplary as to be trusted with such a task.” You pondered if that was the case, such a late notice on this type of thing surely meant that he had someone else who decided not to cooperate. 

Erwin shook his head. “You were chosen because you were with us those years before the wall had fallen.” He said. You tilted your head in confusion for a split second before standing up straight. You didn’t get it, but you weren’t aware of anyone who “got” Erwin. You nodded anyways, understanding that no matter what this was your new position and you had to handle it. 

“Alright, then. Go meet your squad. You are dismissed.” He said. You looked at him for a second, his blue eyes looking at you with no emotion. You furrowed your eyebrows a bit, a sense of distrust taking over you. His face remained unchanged. You took a breath and turned around to the door, deciding not to salute. 

“Yes, sir.” You mumbled, leaving without a second look at Erwin.

Your boots clicked against the ground as you walked at a fast pace. Levi walked further ahead of you, looking towards you as he slowed down to walk aside you.

“You seem to be in a hurry.” He said, taking note of how your head was held high but your shoulders were tense.

“I don’t trust that blonde fucker.” You muttered. Levi looked at you and then ahead of you as his face remained cold and distant.

“We don’t have a choice in whether we can trust him or not.”

“He made me squad leader the morning of the expedition.” You explained, your grip on the papers getting tighter.

“Yeah, now I don’t trust him either. Why would he place someone so stupid in charge of so many people?” He said, and you glared at him. “He had told me he was assigning you squad leader; I’m just surprised he did it so late.”

“Not only that,” You began, looking over at your papers. “All of their ranks are insanely low. No one above a 70 in my squad, picked from a troop of a hundred people. He told me that if anything goes wrong I should abandon my team and merge with his.” You looked at Levi with a intense stare, and Levi looked at you. “And we’re placed on the outer right flank.”

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at.” He sighed.

You looked back down at your papers. “We’re placed on the outside- the most dangerous part of the flank. Our squad is made up of people who aren’t very skilled. The change was made the morning of the expedition.” You said, stopping in your tracks as you recited all of it. You looked back at Levi. “He’s setting them up to die.”

Levi widened his eyes slightly before looking away and turning. You had stopped in front of the commons, to your surprise. “There’s no use in looking into why Erwin does things the way he does.” He said to you as you stared at the back of his head. “It doesn’t matter if your conspiracy theories are wrong or right. What matters is taking care of your squad.” He turned to look at you. “Now come eat.”

You stared at him for a second, taking in his facial features with furrowed brows. He no longer had a look of surprise on his face, it was masked well with a cold demeaner and half lidded eyes. You took note of the bags under his eyes, he either hadn’t slept well or hadn’t slept at all. That was nothing new from Levi, but it made you worry. This expedition was more than just an expedition, it was a test to capture a spy. Was it really okay that Levi hadn’t slept properly?

You decided not to question it and took your place at his side once more. You both got your food and sat down at a table, eating the eggs and bread handed to you. You looked down at your sheets of paper and stood up after your meal was finished and called for your squad members.

“Elgar Daine! Rhys Milkovich! Violet Garden! Lukas Schmidt! Alexandre Moreau!” You shouted as you read, and then lifted up your head. “Get your asses over here now!” They quickly filed up in front of you, each confused. You were shorter than all of them. That was nothing new, since you and Levi were about the same height, but you didn’t want them to look down at you. You furrowed your eyebrows and crossed your arms, your stance making you seem larger than them spiritually. “I’m your squad leader, runts. Greet me as such!” 

They all quickly saluted you “Y-yes ma’am!” Came from all of them. Levi sat behind you, looking at you all amused as he rested his head in one hand. 

“Each of you tell me why and how you ended ass-up in the Scout Regiment!” You pointed at Elgar, a girl with dark red hair in a long-braided ponytail. “You first.”

“I wanted to finish my father’s work- he served for the scouts when I was a kid, ma’am!”

You nodded and looked to Rhys, a male with light green eyes and shaggy blonde hair.

“I want to help humanity win against the titans!” You glared at him. He stuttered. “M-ma’am!”

Next was Violet who, despite her cute name, was a large, buff girl with a short pixie cut. “I want to put my strength into good use, ma’am!”

Lukas was an average sized pale boy with black hair and icy blue eyes. “My plans to get into the Military Police fell through, I wanted to put my use outside the walls instead, ma’am.” You didn’t like the lack of ecstasy in his voice and how quiet he was, but you moved on.

Alexandre was a frail boy with brown short hair that still had bedhead. You saw his eyes frantically search for an answer. “I-“ He stuttered. “I don’t know, ma’am!” You looked at him in confusion, watching as tears pricked his eyes. You sighed as you stepped forward and pat his arm. He flinched.

“You were put here for a reason, kid.” You reassured him. “You can figure it all out later.” He rubbed his eyes. Lukas rubbed his back as a sign of reassurance. You assumed they were good friends or more.

“Yes Ma’am.” He muttered, and you stepped back.

“You’re all aware that you’ll be in my care. I am Squad Leader [L/n]. Look over your assignments and memorize where your place is within the right flank.” You looked at the red-head girl, she had the highest rank of all of them and a clear goal. She didn’t stutter or fumble when addressing you, nor did she come off too strong. “Elgar, you will be my second in command. In the case that we are separated, you will be the substitute squad leader.” She didn’t even hesitate as she nodded, a proud grin making its way on her face as her eyes sparkled.

“Yes ma’am, thank you ma’am!” She said. You nodded.

“I’ll see you all at the horses. You’re dismissed!”

“Yes ma’am!” They shouted in unison, strengthening their salute before turning on their heels and going back to their tables. You say back down next to Levi, and took a deep breath. You could see him looking at you with warmth in his smile.

“You’re a natural.” He said. Your face heated up as you tried not to make eye contact with him, mumbling out a feeble thanks as his face returned to it’s natural, icy, state. Commander Erwin entered the commons and you all stood and saluted. It was time.

You were on your horse, your squad surrounding you. You looked around gaining sight of Petra. She smiled at you and gave you a thumbs up. You gave on back. Levi looked at you as he did with every expedition. You nodded at him and he nodded back. You looked around you to your squadron. Elgar, Rhys, and Violet were by far the most concentrated. Alexandre and Lukas held their reigns tightly. Lukas was visibly shaking. You grimaced and looked ahead at Erwin. _What in the world are you thinking? This kid is going to get himself killed. He’ll die on the outer flank. What is wrong with you?_

“Advance!” You heard, and your horses were off. The formation formed without a hitch, although there were now more titans than usual, one walking towards your squad. You looked at your squadron at who was the steadiest. Elgar looked like she was ready and begging to kill one. Rhys seemed frightened now that he’s face to face with a titan. Alexandre and Lucas were out of the question. 

“Violet!” You ordered. “Green smoke signal towards the left!” You looked at Elgar. “Elgar, let’s take the one in our path down!” You said, brandishing your swords. Elgar nodded and Violet quickly got a flare gun and set off a flair. You and violet took out the ankles of the titan, making it fall forward. 

“The nape!” You ordered.

“Got it!” Elgar responded, striking down at the nape. At first it was not deep enough, so she quickly sliced again, a reasonable chunk falling as the titan went limp. She looked proud of her kill, noticeable by her large grin. It reminded you of yourself, all those years ago.

“Back to the horses!” You ordered.

“Yes ma’am!” She said, and you both used your 3D Maneuver Gear to get back to your horses. 

“Slight left! Move away from the titans!” You said as you watched the other squads set off their flares to move as well. You looked behind you towards Lukas. “See that, Lukas?” You called. He looked at you. “You’re safe with us.” You said. He looked at you, his hands shaking less. He nodded firmly.

You stayed on your way towards Karanese District, making note of every little thing. There wasn’t anything unusual, there were just titans as there always had been. 

Suddenly, you heard a loud but distant boom. Your eyes widened in shock as you looked towards where it came from. You thought about using the acoustic flare but decided against it; it could’ve been an odd case of thunder, or maybe a tree falling from a titan. A very, very large tree.

“What was that?” Rhys asked. Your squad looked at you for answers.

“It doesn’t matter what it was. It’s not our problem. Keep moving forward.” You ordered. They listened and kept facing forward. 

You heard thousands upon thousands of large thuds as you kept going forward. You looked behind you as you saw more titans than you could count heading towards you. Your eyes widened as you saw them speed up.

“What the fuck?! Where are they all coming from?!” Violet shouted, and you looked at your flare gun. Does this count as out of the ordinary? It _is_ just a lot of titans.

“Don’t engage! Elgar, red smoke signal!” She quickly grabbed a smoke signal and placed it inside the flair and shot upwards. You saw an additional red smoke signal come from a squadron very far in front of you as well. 

“Jesus, how many of them are there?” Rhys muttered to himself.

“Lukas, calm down!” You heard Alexandre say, as you turned to see the boy hyperventilating on his horse. Your attention snapped to louder thumps coming from where the titans were.

Your eyes widened as you saw a titan far bigger than the other run towards you with perfect form. You squinted, was it abnormal? “Rhys! Black flare!” The sudden command caught him offguard and he fumbled with the flare, unable to load it with shaking hands. Elgar seized the opportunity and set off the black flare instead.

Your lack of attention got the better of you, and you were unable to see the titans approaching your squad until you heard Lukas scream. You looked and say that a titan had grabbed him. There were too many titans heading towards you for you to try to save him. He screamed as he bashed his hands against the titans hands, pleading for it to let him go. You watched Alexandre equip his swords.

“Alexandre, don’t! Do not engage! _Do NOT engage!_ ” The last call almost came out as a plead. He ignored you and you watched as his gear went off and he yelled fiercely. 

The titan was much smarter than he was and he was grabbed by the beast's other hand. Your eyes widened as the titan brought them closer to his mouth, both of them screaming as you watched their brains spurt out from within their heads against the monster’s teeth. Violet screamed in horror.

You turned your head toward the abnormal titan, she was far too strange to be a regular abnormal titan. She reminded you of Eren’s titan, in a way. It was weird for her to have no skin, much like the colossal titan. You gasped in thought. Was she the spy Erwin was talking about?

“Squad Leader, orders?!” Rhys yelled, and you looked around hurriedly. You watched as a green flare from the front pointed further left. 

“Don’t engage!” You grit your teeth together. You were already down two people but you were certain that was Erwin’s intent. You watched as the abnormal titan strategically avoided trees and large titans.

You reached for your flare gun. “Cover your ears!” You said and set off the acoustic flare once everyone had their ears covered. You put the flare gun away. “Elgar, I’m putting you in charge.” You stated Elgar looked at you, mouth agape in surprise, but then nodded, ready to take on the task. “I’ll relay information to Commander Erwin.”

“You’re abandoning us?!” Rhys yelled. You closed your eyes. You prayed to a God, hoping there still was one. 

“If it were my choice I wouldn’t.” You said through closed teeth. “I’m sorry.”

With that, you set off towards the center flank. You urged your horse to go as fast as it could, knowing well that you’d tire it out soon. The thumping from the abnormal female titan behind you never seemed to quiet down. It always felt like she was only a few miles behind you. She’d stopped once as you watched her strategically kill on of the squads you had passed by, but you took the opportunity to lose sight of her.

You needed to get to Erwin.


End file.
